Nirupama Rao - The Japan Times

October 26, 2025

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Nirupama Rao

Fire engulfs Nepal's main administrative building in Kathmandu on Sept. 9, following a police crackdown on protests over government corruption and social media restrictions. This violent unrest is part of a larger pattern of instability in South Asia that threatens regional security and India’s strategic interests.

COMMENTARY / World

Oct 5, 2025

India’s reckoning with its dangerous neighborhood

All these stories point to a larger worrying trend: Democracy in India’s neighborhood is in retreat.

One of the many entrances to the Kabukicho neighborhood in Tokyo’s Shinjuku Ward.

Kabukicho: Tokyo’s ‘stadium of desire’

The byzantine process for converting a foreign driver’s license into a Japanese one entails mountains of paperwork and significant stamina — unless you're a lucky license holder from a country or region where these requirements are waived.

Driving in Japan isn’t hard. Getting the license is.

By Thu-Huong Ha and Mike Fu

SUSTAINABLE JAPAN

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

Maruhachi never sleeps in quest for better futons

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